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Poetry of the First World War

An Anthology

Edited by Tim Kendall

A new anthology of First World War poetry that brings together the best poetry by soldiers, civilians, and women, with a fresh assessment of the work on the centenary of the Great War's outbreak.

Includes a generous representation of the best-known poets, such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Ivor Gurney, as well as lesser known writers who have have been previously overlooked. Includes two previously unpublished poems by Ivor Gurney.

Organizes the selection by poet, which avoids imposing a distorting narrative or an arbitrary thematic grouping.

Each poet's selection is prefaced with a short contextualizing introduction that provides information about the poet, the circumstances of composition, and connections with other poets of the period.

The Introduction considers Great War poetry and the history of the war poets' reception, challenging prevailing myths about the poets' progress from idealism to bitterness.

Generous notes detail the composition and publication history of the poems and gloss allusions and historical references.

Poetry of the First World War

An Anthology

Edited by Tim Kendall

Description

The First World War produced an extraordinary flowering of poetic talent. Its poets mark the conflict in ways that are both intensely personal and as enduring as any monument. Their lines have come to express the feelings of a nation about the horrors and consequences of war.

This new anthology provides a definitive record of the achievements of the Great War poets and offers a fresh assessment of the work on the centenary of the Great War's outbreak. Focusing on the poets themselves, the book is organized by writer, not theme or chronology. It offers generous selections from the celebrated soldier-poets, including Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Rupert Brooke, whilst also incorporating less well-known writing by civilian and women poets. It also includes two previously unpublished poems by Ivor Gurney.

A general introduction charts the history of the war poets' reception and challenges prevailing myths about the war poets' progress from idealism to bitterness. The work of each poet is prefaced with a biographical account that sets the poems in their historical context.

Although the War has now passed out of living memory, its haunting of our language and culture has not been exorcised. Its poetry survives because it continues to speak to and about us.

Poetry of the First World War

An Anthology

Edited by Tim Kendall

Author Information

Tim Kendall has taught at the universities of Oxford, Newcastle, and Bristol before becoming Professor and Head of English at the University of Exeter. His publications for OUP include Modern English War Poetry and The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry, and he is writing War Poetry: A Very Short Introduction. He is also co-editor of the forthcoming Complete Literary Works of Ivor Gurney.

Poetry of the First World War

An Anthology

Edited by Tim Kendall

From Our Blog

By Tim Kendall One of the anthologist's greatest pleasures comes from discovering previously unknown pieces to jostle with the familiar classics. Editing The Poetry of the First World War, I knew that I should need to accommodate 'Dulce et Decorum Est', 'The Soldier', and 'For the Fallen'. Whatever their qualities, these have become so inextricably part of our understanding that to omit them would be perverse.